3.30.2019

Hello, I'm a smart hello kitty

Smart home appliances remote control has already been released by many manufacturers, there is no novelty. However, if you like something cute and it have a hello kitty face? Softbank's gadget shop SB C&S has released a limited model of smart home appliance remote control in collaboration with Hello Kitty, as the 45th anniversary item of Sanrio.


It is a small smart home appliance remote controller developed by gadget maker Ratoc Systems in Osaka, you can connect it to Wi-Fi at home and operate various smart appliances with infrared light. It supports not only mobile apps, but also Google assistants, Amazon Alexa-powered speakers, and voice operations using Siri shortcuts.
The distance of infrared rays is up to 30m, and remote control data of general household appliances such as TV, air conditioner, ceiling light, fan and recorder are also preset more than 350 kinds. In addition, learning of infrared remote control by manual is also possible and it has cloud function and sensors of temperature, humidity and brightness, so you can check home conditions with the mobile app and then operate your home appliances. The surface of this is printed with a Hello Kitty face, and it can be stored against the wall so you can always look at the Hello Kitty face in the room.


The size is 45 x 45 x 15mm, the weight is about 16grams, the power is 5V at 1A, and consumes 150mA in standby and 900mA in infrared transmission. You can buy this for 8,640yen(including tax) on Amazon.co.jp.

3.29.2019

Gadgets needed for the new season

April is the beginning of a new season, especially for small children going to primary school, and in Japan, it is common for children to attend school alone. So, SOURCENEXT will release gadget FamilyDot that can check where the family members on May 29 by 16,070yen(including tax).


It is already possible if you have a smartphone. However, elementary school students do not have a smartphone yet. It's a small GPS device that can be used in 71 countries so you can always check where your family members are on your smartphone. You do not need a contract and monthly communication fee, and there is no limit on the number of position measurements. And you can use it for two years after you start using it without the need for extra cost. There are no restrictions on carriers, so you can use any Android / iOS mobile.
Usage is simple. You just charge it, set it up, and then attach it to the children's bag. There is no need for children to learn how to operate this. Not only GPS signal, but it can also pinpoint locations based on surrounding Wi-Fi access points, so you can also find underground and indoor locations.


It detects the movement speed of children when they leave school, arrive at home or go to other areas and automatically sends push notifications to your mobile. You can specify areas in advance. For example, it may be useful if your children are learning at a certain date and time. You can add users who can check location information without extra cost. It is also possible for the whole family to watch over the children. If the battery's remaining capacity drops below 20%, a notification will be sent to the mobile app.
The size is 45x 45x 18.5mm, the weight is about 38g, and works with a 800mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery.

3.06.2019

IoT cup for drinking Sake

Masu is a square shape cup made of wood for drinking Sake. It is a traditional lifestyle product, but Yume Cloud has developed MASU GLASS combining it with IoT.


It has a Dimension 50.00 mm x 50.00 mm x 20.30 mm module with Bluetooth Low Energy, Motion Sensors, Vibration Motor, and RGB LED. When you pour a Sake into MASS GLASS, give a toast and drink with someone, it reacts to it and glows. If BGM in there, it responds to it and glows in various patterns. In addition, you can control multiple MASU GLASS from smartphone by SMS, so you can use it for production of parties or events. The module is rechargeable and operates for 10 hours with 4 hours charge time.


Yume Cloud is established in Silicon Valley in 2014 and developing IoT solutions for entertainment using sensor technology, and established a Japanese branch office in Yamagata prefecture by Yamagata University's overseas startup invitation project recently. MASU GLASS has been adopted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's start-up support program J-Startup and will be exhibited at SXSW 2019.

3.05.2019

Detect people's behavior on the floor

When detecting logs of people's behavior data, wearable devices and cameras are usually used. However, Fichvita detects it on the floor, so it blends into the living environment and safe.



Fichvita is a non-optical behavior detection system developed by combining core material polymers of TOYO CHEM and circuit design technology of their group. You can use this only by placing it on the floor, so you can detect people's behavior without being affected by the brightness of the installation environment or the blind spot, which is a problem peculiar to the optical system. When people walk on this, it detects people's stride, walking speed, walking direction, number of passersby, and falling conditions.



Because this does not reflect people's faces, you can only know the people's walking pattern while keeping people's privacy. Also, people do not feel like a camera. The development team is supposed to use this at shops such as convenience stores and the elderly homes. In addition, this works not only as a sensor but also as an input device. You can also use this to develop arcade games or attractions. A trial of an attraction that used this already was done in digital theme park for kids Little Planet at Saitama Prefecture in July 2018.

3.04.2019

Prevents forgotten things when going out

At the start-up festival Slush Tokyo 2019, home appliance maker Panasonic exhibited the booth of "Game Changer Catapult", an innovation accelerator activity that realizes ideas. The release of the gadgets there has not been decided yet, but they were all attractive. Among them, Hitokoe, which prevents forgetting when going out at the entrance of the house, is very practical.


This is an outing assistant gadget that will let you know when you leave the house if you forget something.
Usage is easy. Put RFID tags on items you do not want to forget, and just register those QR codes with smartphone to mobile app. Then, if you forget them when you leave home, it will let you know, and if you are not doing the forgotten, it will see you as "I’ll see you later". This will support your items by classifying them into three categories: "What you need every day" "What you need for a specific day" "What you need depending on the weather".


Put RFID tags on items you carry around every day, this will detect whether you are losing something every day you go out, for items that are necessary only for a specific day, this will detect based on pre-registered schedules, and or items that are necessary according to the weather, it will acquire weather information of the day and detect forgotten items.
These are still in development stage, but the development team intends to implement functions such as preventing pollen and PM2.5 unpleasant things from entering the house in and informing traffic information at the time of going out.